but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten
tribes are beyond [the] Euphrates till now, and are an immense
multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers.^44The phrases “beyond [the] Euphrates” and “till now” clearly show that, in
putting together this particular passage, Josephus was working not only with
Ezra but also with other related biblical material concerning the ten tribes.
Josephus himself seems puzzled as to what became of the ten tribes, though he
shies away from the problem. He instead consoles himself, like Esdras, by
saying that the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates and constitute a multitude
immense in number.^45
While neither the biblical Ezra nor Josephus answer the question of why
the ten tribes had been left behind, the apocryphal Esdras, a visionary if not a
prophet, does, through a quite significant reelaboration of the biblical story. To
be sure, answering these questions was not the only thrust behind the visions
of Esdras nor its attribution to Ezra the scribe. But it is not incidental that the
first significant reelaboration of the ten tribes narrative is attributed to the
person most associated with Israel’s partial exodus/return from itsfirstexile.
Here, the tendency to reframe the Roman destruction of the Second Temple
according to the template of the first Babylonian destruction and exile is
crucial.^46 Reading the trauma of 70 cethrough the lens of the Babylonian
exile brings into the frame that earlier trauma, the ten tribes’ exile. Writing
after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple, Esdras emulates the
“consolation prophecies” of Isaiah and Jeremiah, connecting the ten tribes to
greater visions of redemption and restoration.^47
The journey to Arzareth reads like another Exodus. Better yet, it is an
Exodus in reverse: just as the Lord led the Israelites out of Egypt to the
promised land of Israel, he now takes the ten tribes to a place of exile that is
also a haven. The mention of God “stopping the channels” of the river is
not only an allusion to the drama of crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan
River during the original Exodus.^48 It is also a strong reference to what is
described in Isaiah, which speaks directly of the “remnant rescued from
Assyria” ( 11 : 15 – 16 ). In Isaiah’s vision, the divine waves his hand “over the
River” and “[splits it] into seven channels.” Here, in Esdras, we see a new
spin on another of Isaiah’s prophecies:
And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and
with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall
smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And
there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be